Chris Pickering
EDC 430
Observe/Reflect #1
Dr. Fogleman Observations
Date: October 3, 2011
Time: 7:30-11:15
Today is my first day observing Mr. Zabel at Narragansett High School. School starts at 7:30, but he has first period off so we use it as a chance to get to know each other and go over his plans for the year. Also, it gives us time to talk about his teaching styles and philosophies and he also shows me where certain equipment is. One of the things that jumped out in our discussion was how passionate he was about his kids and how important their learning experience was to them. He wanted to make sure that they enjoyed coming to his class and you could see that on his kids’ faces.
The first period that Mr. Zabel taught was his Biology I class. Usually advisory comes after his off period, but since testing is going on there is no advisory and the period after advisory is extended to a two hour period. Even though the period is long, I actually was looking forward to it because it was with the class that I was definitely going to be teaching in the spring and it gave me a shot to get to know some of the kids. The period starts off with Mr. Zabel making a conscious effort to say hello to each student entering the classroom. He asks how they are doing or about a sporting event that they recently had. You can see excitement on the students’ faces and right away I could tell that they were excited for biology today. After he says hello to all the students, Mr. Zabel introduces me and then hands out a quiz on some general chemistry. During the quiz the students are very quiet and well behaved and complete their quiz in about 20 minutes. During the quiz Mr. Zabel walks around the room and helps with any questions the student has. After the quiz is over, Mr. Zabel introduces the next topic that the students were going to, which was lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins. He starts with answering questions the students has and then goes into naming different foods that fall under each category. When discussing foods, the students start to talk to each other. Bringing up food gives the students something for them to relate to and sparks their interest right away. After this brief lecture the students work in groups of 3 or 4 on a food label paper. This takes about 45 minutes. During this I help Mr. Zabel answer questions the students have. He then goes over the worksheet for about ten minutes and explains all the answers. Mr. Zabel ends class about 15 minutes early and allows the students to talk to each other since the period was so long and you could tell students were starting to get antsy. Some of the students talked to me and asked questions about college, baseball, and about me in general. It was nice to be able to just talk to the students not in a structured way. After the period ends it is about 11:15 and my observations are complete. Reflections
I think that Mr. Zabel did a great job starting off the class. He started by saying hello to every student. I believe that this is extremely important. It shows the students that the teacher actually cares about each student. It also transitions the students from being out in the hallway with their friends to a learning environment. Looking at the clock, I’d say it really only took a matter of a few minutes to gain order in the classroom. Pretty much right when Mr. Zabel started talking the students quieted down. You can tell they liked him and respected him. The project that was given to the students I thought was an awesome idea. He introduced the topic by using food. What kid doesn’t like food, especially when it was getting close to lunch time. Overall, I thought Mr. Zabel did a great job considering the class period was so long. He had the attention of his students for the entire period and I thought he did a great job not making the lesson so dense since the period was so long. There was enough learning going on, but he also allowed for down time. This helped engage the students for a long 2 hour period.
Class Topic: Lipids, Carbohydrates, and Proteins Grade: 10 and 11 Observed By: Chris Pickering
EDC 430
Observe/Reflect #1
Dr. Fogleman
Observations
Date: October 3, 2011
Time: 7:30-11:15
Today is my first day observing Mr. Zabel at Narragansett High School. School starts at 7:30, but he has first period off so we use it as a chance to get to know each other and go over his plans for the year. Also, it gives us time to talk about his teaching styles and philosophies and he also shows me where certain equipment is. One of the things that jumped out in our discussion was how passionate he was about his kids and how important their learning experience was to them. He wanted to make sure that they enjoyed coming to his class and you could see that on his kids’ faces.
The first period that Mr. Zabel taught was his Biology I class. Usually advisory comes after his off period, but since testing is going on there is no advisory and the period after advisory is extended to a two hour period. Even though the period is long, I actually was looking forward to it because it was with the class that I was definitely going to be teaching in the spring and it gave me a shot to get to know some of the kids. The period starts off with Mr. Zabel making a conscious effort to say hello to each student entering the classroom. He asks how they are doing or about a sporting event that they recently had. You can see excitement on the students’ faces and right away I could tell that they were excited for biology today. After he says hello to all the students, Mr. Zabel introduces me and then hands out a quiz on some general chemistry. During the quiz the students are very quiet and well behaved and complete their quiz in about 20 minutes. During the quiz Mr. Zabel walks around the room and helps with any questions the student has. After the quiz is over, Mr. Zabel introduces the next topic that the students were going to, which was lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins. He starts with answering questions the students has and then goes into naming different foods that fall under each category. When discussing foods, the students start to talk to each other. Bringing up food gives the students something for them to relate to and sparks their interest right away. After this brief lecture the students work in groups of 3 or 4 on a food label paper. This takes about 45 minutes. During this I help Mr. Zabel answer questions the students have. He then goes over the worksheet for about ten minutes and explains all the answers. Mr. Zabel ends class about 15 minutes early and allows the students to talk to each other since the period was so long and you could tell students were starting to get antsy. Some of the students talked to me and asked questions about college, baseball, and about me in general. It was nice to be able to just talk to the students not in a structured way. After the period ends it is about 11:15 and my observations are complete.
Reflections
I think that Mr. Zabel did a great job starting off the class. He started by saying hello to every student. I believe that this is extremely important. It shows the students that the teacher actually cares about each student. It also transitions the students from being out in the hallway with their friends to a learning environment. Looking at the clock, I’d say it really only took a matter of a few minutes to gain order in the classroom. Pretty much right when Mr. Zabel started talking the students quieted down. You can tell they liked him and respected him. The project that was given to the students I thought was an awesome idea. He introduced the topic by using food. What kid doesn’t like food, especially when it was getting close to lunch time. Overall, I thought Mr. Zabel did a great job considering the class period was so long. He had the attention of his students for the entire period and I thought he did a great job not making the lesson so dense since the period was so long. There was enough learning going on, but he also allowed for down time. This helped engage the students for a long 2 hour period.
Class Topic: Lipids, Carbohydrates, and Proteins
Grade: 10 and 11
Observed By: Chris Pickering